Transport committee  It's a good question. From a strategic standpoint, we have to understand that we're operating within global supply chains and that Canadian supply chains are competing with other supply chains. Everything is connected. The shipping sector is connected to ports and ports are conne

Transport committee  Can I just jump in? I'm glad that you asked about the 2013-14 crop because it predates this committee, and there was a lot of information shared during that time that's probably worth repeating. First of all, this was the largest grain crop in the history of the country. It was

Transport committee  I focused quite a bit in my remarks on the fact that the rates are not compensatory. It's true that if those rates were adjusted, then it would be helpful, but the more important point is that it is a regulated rate. What my short-line members are telling me—the class Is can spea

Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Michael Bourque. I am the president and chief executive officer of the Railway Association of Canada. With me today is Gérald Gauthier, our vice-president. I'm here to speak on behalf of our federally regulated railways and to discuss our con

Transport committee  In the case of the one you're talking about, they are a provincially regulated short line and isn't even subject to this bill. But what we expect will happen is what happens in more than 90% of the cases of rail safety bills: they are copied by the province identically. They don'

Transport committee  There are not two. There are going to be more than two.

Transport committee  I would suggest to you that with probably 30%, 40%, or even 50% of railways, when you look at this particular regime, any reasonable person would see that the risk is not commensurate with the amount of insurance they will be forced to pay.

Transport committee  I'm glad you asked that question, because my view is that I don't think it's going to help much. Even though I recognize that it was there to help, I don't think it helps much, because in two years the insurance situation could change. There could be an accident involving a short

Transport committee  I think it's a reasonable request.

Transport committee  I can speak to that. We do have short lines that are moving significant amounts of crude, and some of them are able to charge their customers for the additional amount of insurance. They can absorb it into the costs of their operation. In that case, the amount of insurance that i

Transport committee  Yes, it's precisely the point. His company is very different. But there are other consequences for other short-line railways. I think the important point that was made was that not all short lines are created equal. They're all different. For that reason, there are some uninten

Transport committee  We'll handle the rest through questions. Thank you.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, our last presenter is Terry Berthiaume from Essex Terminal Railway. He is a short-line operator.

Transport committee  Thank you very much. I'm only going to lead the discussion. We are going to start with Mr. James Beardsley from Marsh.

Transport committee  The ownership is really spread all over the place. If you have a road crossing in a busy municipality, the rail bed is owned by the railway and the crossing is owned partly by the railway and partly by the municipality, and they'll have an agreement in place for the maintenance a